Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Organize and run a scavenger hunt with GooseChase! Sign up for an account to begin creating games. Add your own missions to games or use missions available on the site. Determine point values for completion and optional links or images to provide additional information. Choose to allow participants to submit validation of completion through photos or videos that you can see in real-time. Once your game is set up (using any computer or device with Internet access), invite participants to begin play through a mobile device. Download the free apps for any mobile device through the Google Play Store or iTunes. GooseChase now has free basic plans for teachers where you can have unlimited games (Experiences) and have 5 teams per Experience, however, it allows only team Experiences.

tag(s): creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), game based learning (205), gamification (83)

LivingTree is an online collaborative tool for teachers, parents, and students. Share messages, photos, files, and more in 100+ languages instantly. Create a shared calendar for all members to access and contribute information. Calendars offer the ability for parents and volunteers to easily sign up for events such as conferences and field trips. There are introductory videos, and video guides for teachers, parents, administrators, and organizations. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): chat (41), classroom management (120), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), organizational skills (88), polls and surveys (49), Teacher Utilities (197), video (266)

Tarr's Toolbox contains many quick and easy suggestions for spicing up lessons. Although created by a history teacher, most ideas can easily adapt to any subject. Click on any text box for a complete description of activities. Some of the descriptions have suggestions for use of the tools found on Classtools, reviewed here. Be sure to subscribe to Tarr's Toolbox blog to receive updates as new ideas are added.

tag(s): classroom management (120), differentiation (84), game based learning (205), professional development (385)

Stay up to date with the latest news from Space with this resource from Time. Scroll down the page to view articles organized by date. Click to see any article with included images. Explore topics further by clicking links to additional information found within the articles.
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tag(s): explorers (64), nasa (30), space (222)

Build your own digital badges to award and share. Badge List offers the ability to design a badge using their built-in badge designer. You can also upload your own. Share with those seeking to earn the badge; they upload evidence of accomplishment using one of the five supported formats. Once achieved, awarded badges are displayed on an individual's profile and can easily be shared online. Since the free portion of Badge List is public, it is important for teachers to keep student identities anonymous. Use a code for the student name that is only known by the teacher. Also, be sure to obtain parent permission before using this tool with students. At the time of this review, stated by Badge List: "Badge List is currently developing simpler privacy settings to help K12 teachers protect student data. Until these features are released, teachers will need to take extra precautions to make sure that student data is safe."

tag(s): assessment (147), behavior (45), classroom management (120), game based learning (205), gamification (83), organizational skills (88)

Create interactive games, books, and presentations with TinyTap. Choose the Activities link to access resources made by teachers. Sort by category, age, and language. TinyTap allows creators to include drag and drop activities, videos, quizzes, and more - all in one activity. Create groups to assign activities to different students. Most games are free; however, some games by professional authors are not free. Play games and activities on any device; however, creation of games requires you to download the free iPad app. At the time of this review, TinyTap worked well on most browsers (except Safari). The free version is public and comments are permitted. Be sure to preview anything before you share with students.

tag(s): assessment (147), DAT device agnostic tool (147), game based learning (205), quiz (67), quizzes (90), Teacher Utilities (197)

Spice up any countdown with this versatile, yet easy to use, countdown timer from Classtools. Options include running multiple timers, adding music or video, and saving a web link to your timer. Choose the Get Started button to begin and follow prompts to choose included music or select your own from any YouTube video. Click the save icon to receive a personalized URL for sharing.

tag(s): classroom management (120), counting (60), time (91)

Collaborate with up to 100 participants from anywhere and at any time with Zoom's free online video conferencing options. Features include screen sharing, scheduled or instant meeting times, and private or group chat. Up to 40 minutes of group meeting time, and unlimited 1:1 meeting time is included with the free meeting plans. Sign up using your email or social network account to begin hosting a meeting. The step by step instructions make it easy to quickly begin video conferencing at your convenience.

tag(s): chat (41), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), parent conferences (21), video (266)

The Mindset Kit is a large compilation of resources for parents and teachers for teaching and developing growth mindsets. Based on the book, Mindset, by Carol Dweek, these lessons and activities provide tools for developing positive mindsets, in turn, leading to increased academic performance. Choose the section for teachers to find seven lessons for educator teams, or take advantage of ten lessons for parents to learn about growth mindset and how to instill this in students. Other portions contain ideas for specific content areas and mentors.

tag(s): brain (56), learning styles (18), professional development (385), social and emotional learning (102)

Microsoft's OneNote, a downloadable app, keeps all notes, emails, drawings, photographs, and more organized into folders on a page in different sections of a "notebook." Drag copies of files or documents from your computer into OneNote. Share and collaborate with others. Access your OneNote account by signing in to any computer or device.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), Microsoft (80), organizational skills (88), Storage (6)

Promote active reading experiences using the ideas found at Great Expectations. This site is for the visually impaired, but you'll find the ideas and advice can apply to any young reader. Use songs, tactile play, and more from the lessons developed for the three children's picture books on this site. The popular books featured areThe Day the Crayons Quit, Dragons Love Tacos, and Pete the Cat- Rocking in My School Shoes, and 5 more titles with engaging activities.

tag(s): adaptations (16), preK (270), reading comprehension (149), stories and storytelling (58)

Create standards-based lessons and rubrics in minutes with ThemeSpark. Incorporate your ready-made materials or use global resources available on the site. The lesson builder includes the ability to add a hook, information to learn, practice, and application activity. When finished, download the lesson in an easy to use format. Be sure to watch the QuickStart Lesson Builder video and read through the FAQ section on the site for full information about creating lessons and using ThemeSpark. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): assessment (147), professional development (385), rubrics (37), Teacher Utilities (197)

Create a personalized sign using the many templates offered on the Sign Generator. Options include personalized cakes, cartoon characters, movie marquees, and much more. Click the thumbnail of the design you want, add your text into the provided lines, and click the link to finish. Your personalized sign appears on a popup image ready to save onto your computer.
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tag(s): graphic design (49), images (263), photography (130), posters (43)

The Big Ideas Series, offered by ClassDojo, provides ten video topics encouraging students to explore different ways to healthy social emotional development and learning. The videos discuss concepts such as Empathy, Perseverance, Positive Thinking, Gratitude, Mindfulness, and more. Each topic has a series of short videos and includes a discussion guide to download for classroom use and a page with take-home questions for parent use.

tag(s): brain (56), emotions (49), empathy (34), learning styles (18), social and emotional learning (102), social skills (22)

eLearning Infographics offers an extensive selection of infographics for educational use. Choose from a variety of topics such as Playing to Learn and The Evolution of Technology in Schools. Each infographic displays a category. Click that link to view others with similar topics. Click on the infographic link to see the full image along with links for sharing on social networks and email, or copy and paste the embed code to embed directly onto your website.
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tag(s): digital storytelling (154), infographics (56), professional development (385)

The Classroom Freebies Resource Library contains thousands of free materials for grades K-8. Many different kinds of resources are included such as task cards, classroom management charts, coloring sheets, worksheets, and posters. Use the search bar to find specific content or browse using links to grade level content and topics such as the End of the Year and Common Core Freebies. Follow links for directions about downloading materials.

tag(s): back to school (55), book reports (28), classroom management (120), commoncore (73), posters (43), preK (270), substitutes (25), worksheets (69)

Create beautiful visual designs with Adobe Creative Cloud Express (was Adobe Spark). First, follow prompts for creating an account, then select a creation you will work on; those include flyers, banners, posters, business cards, social graphics, advertisements, YouTube thumbnails, and a few others. The canvas where you will create has a right and left menu. Choose a template, text, photos, shapes, backgrounds, and design assets from the left menu. Next, you can select colors, animation, background, resize, or design from the right menu. When complete, share using email or with the social media links provided, or you can download.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), creative writing (124), design (79), digital storytelling (154), microblogging (14), posters (43)

The Blended Learning Implementation Guide is an interactive resource for planning, implementing, and evaluating blended learning in the classroom. The guide takes you through the basics of blended learning with infographics, links to videos, and specific instructions for blended learning instructors. Other topics include suggestions on purchasing devices for use, questions to consider when lecturing, and resources for funding. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. Though some of the videos have a 404 message and some links don't work, the PDF itself still has a lot of information.

tag(s): professional development (385)

Iditarod Teacher on the Trail includes posts for the current Teacher on the Trail detailing their journey from selection through participation in the Iditarod. Posts include classroom lessons correlated to Common Core Standards about the Iditarod in all subject areas. Choose links to particular parts of the curriculum to view videos, classroom images, download printables, and complete lessons. This site focuses on each new teacher of the year; be sure to see archives and information from previous years' teachers.

tag(s): alaska (21), iditarod (4)

The Unite for Literacy Library offers many online books for young readers with audio. Browse through the home page to choose books to read from the library shelves. Narrow down your choices using picture icons for different themes such as animals or families. Select and click a book to read. Click the speaker icon to hear each page. The narration is also available in many languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese.

tag(s): audio books (26), independent reading (81), interactive stories (22), preK (270)